Reply to Recommendation of any good book to learn about the US school system?

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[quote=Anonymous]As PPs have said, school systems vary a lot so there isn’t really a guide to how they all work although the guides for ex-pats that PP linked to are especially a good starting point.

You should look at the information from your specific district and/or state (e.g. Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun Counties all have to follow requirements from the state of Virginia but may do so in different ways).
Where do you live? We could point you to the resources that explain how things work in your district.

Some of the things that tend to vary a lot across districts at the ES level are how gifted/advanced students are identified and given higher level learning opportunities, how much time is spent with technology, how they teach writing and math, how soon do they encourage advanced kids to take algebra (which sets you on the path to higher math in HS), how much recess, how much homework, how much (any?) foreign language instruction, availability of magnet schools that have a unique content focus or different type of instruction.

At the HS level, school differences include…

What sort of more advanced classes does the school offer -- AP (advanced placement), IB (International Baccalaureate), Dual Enrolled, Cambridge program.

What electives and extracurricular activities are available -- like sports, clubs, arts, academic teams, etc.  American HS students are expected to spend time in activities like this and deep, sustained involvement and leadership is expected (in addition to very high grades/test scores) if you want to go to a highly selective college.

What’s the schedule like – some schools might have kids go to the same six classes every day, others are on a “block schedule” where you might go to half the classes on Monday and the other half on Tuesday.  There are also block schedules where you take half your classes daily for 1st semester and the other half daily for 2nd semester (I don’t know if there are schools like that in this area but my nephew in CA has that schedule).

Middle schools tend to be more like a mini HS – change classes for each subject but not as many elective/extracurricular options.  Some schools offer classes to separate out higher achieving students to different degrees (e.g. one district might only offer advanced math classes while another offers it for all core courses).
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